Are You My Daddy?

We just finished our last session of tumbling for two of our children. They enjoyed the class and learned several things (like cartwheels and trampoline jumping). It took place once a week in the evenings. As crazy as it may sound, my wife and I are relieved that it is over. We try to live a slower-paced life and just that one extra night of an activity we had to take part in made our week feel stretched for time. As my wife and I sat and talked after the kids were in bed, we tried to imagine and understand how families are on the go all the time. Many people we know with children (from infant to high school) are busy almost every night. Their busy-ness result from sports, school events, church events, or something dealing with friends or extended family. But there is always something going on. Then, as a society, we question why our youth seem to have more "issues" than we did growing up. What about time with mom and dad? Especially time with parents who work 40+ hours a week? They barely get any time to talk and share affection with their parents (particularly dad). If we spend 8 hours a day at work, with daycare for 40+ hours a week, then they are off to events. They barely get any time to talk and share affection with their parents (particularly dad). If the average person works 8 hours a day, commutes about an hour daily, and I would guess spends 3+ hours a night running errands or going to sporting events, then we are spending at least 12 hours busy and not focusing on our children. Sure we could say that we are watching them during their activity, but are we really impacting them or are their peers, coaches, instructors, etc. I challenge you today to look at your schedule. Determine if everything in it is necessary or if you could take out a few things to give your children a little more of your time. I know at first they might not appear to like the decision, but in the long run they will. They want time with their parents, especially with their dads (because children tend to believe that mom will always be there). God bless!